Youth training road
show is city bound

Staff Reporter

Young people aged 16 to 24 are being asked to attend a road-show event at the Millennium Forum on Wednesday 21 to give their views on a proposed new youth training system for Northern Ireland.

The event will take place in the city centre theatre at 2pm and is to inform a new system that will address the needs of young people while also meeting the requirements of employers.

Employment and Learning Minister Dr Stephen Farry said: “A new youth training system will form a key part of our wider education and skills landscape, addressing the needs of our young people while meeting the requirements of employers both now and in the future.

“It is focused on building and rebalancing our economy by investing directly in our young people, so we are providing development opportunities for young people and delivering the skills required for the economy.

“We are aiming to gather views from as many people as possible, particularly young people aged 16 to 24, through the consultation process by 10 February.

“I want to ensure that everyone who has an interest in this review make their voices heard, so I encourage all stakeholders involved, including young people, their parents or guardians and employers, to have their input.”

DEL has incorporated innovative best practice into its work with young people, including a workshop involving young people in December to develop an animated version of the consultation, followed by focus groups with young people.

Dr Farry continued: “We are committed to using new and creative ways to open up a dialogue with young people and so we developed the animated consultation tool in conjunction with young people from Belfast Metropolitan College, the Prince’s Trust and Workforce Training Services.”

Youth groups interested in using the animation toolkit for consultations with young people can log on here.The consultation response document, along with the full Review of Youth Training Interim Report and Consultation Document, is available here.

Once the consultation responses are analysed, the final strategy will be published in the spring, with the new system expected to be operational in 2016/17.